The higher they're likely to be picked in the NBA Draft, the pickier prospects seem to be.
Some won't lower themselves to work out for a team like the Jazz, who own the No. 6 selection in next Tuesday's draft — plus a late first-rounder, No. 27 overall, and two second-rounders, Nos. 34 and 51.
Others, often heeding the advice of their agents, actually dictate the terms of their auditions — including one who is in town today, Texas high school shooting guard Gerald Green.
Green, a likely top-six pick who could go as high as No. 3 overall, will be in town to interview and may even perform on-court. But he apparently won't work out against anyone.
"It somewhat raises a red flag, because you say, 'Is he competitive? Why is he afraid to go against anybody? Why is he afraid to go against players in the draft?' " said Walt Perrin, the Jazz's director of player personnel. "If he's going to be a player, he's going to have to go against these guys anyway. The game's not played 1-on-0."
Four others are scheduled to actually compete in front of Utah brass today: C.J. Miles, another Texas high school guard; B.J. Elder, a Georgia Tech shooting guard; Matt Walsh, a swingman from the University of Florida; and University of Arkansas swingman Olu Famutimi, who auditioned Monday for the Los Angeles Clippers along with Ronnie Price, the Utah Valley State College star who has worked out twice already for the Jazz.
Another four are penciled in for Wednesday workouts with the Jazz: UConn standout Charlie Villanueva; Walsh University product Robert Whaley; Northwestern guard T.J. Parker, the brother of San Antonio Spurs point Tony Parker; and a local hopeful, Weber State and ex-University of Utah big man Lance Allred.
Eight of the nine visiting the Jazz today and Wednesday are not candidates for the No. 6 pick. Green is, but that's still not enough to get him to show his game.
The Green camp's school of thought seems to be that he just doesn't have to; he has more to lose than gain by going 1-on-1, even against supposedly inferior competition; if he's going to go top-six without having to put his reputation on the line, why risk injury or a drop in stock?
"It's like going to the dentist," said Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz's senior vice president of basketball operations. "I'm not sure you 'want' to go to dentist. I'm not sure these kids 'want' to go to these workouts."
The reason for some not showing at all is understandable.
The Jazz, for instance, can accept the fact consensus national player of the year Andrew Bogut is showing his stuff only to Milwaukee and Atlanta. The University of Utah big man, after all, is fully expected to go either No. 1 to the Bucks and No. 2 to the Hawks next — unless, that is, Milwaukee trades its top pick to a team with Bogut on the brain.
Others are more perplexing.
The Jazz recently shared observation of a 'neutral site' workout with Portland in order to get a glimpse of Wake Forest point guard Chris Paul, but the likely top-five pick has no current plans to actually visit Utah.
And the Jazz aren't even sure if they'll get a visit from much-coveted University of Illinois point Deron Williams, who reportedly turned down a workout invite from the Trail Blazers and told some teams he won't work individually against anyone except Paul.
"We do get a little frustrated that we can't get certain players in," Perrin said. "But sometimes we also understand there's a good chance the person may go ahead of us."
Sometimes prospects who won't work for a certain franchise indeed are drafted before that team's turn to choose arrives. Other times, they fall below pre-draft projections.
Either way, the guessing game frequently amounts to a dice roll — often played by someone other than the actual prospect.
"It's not always the agent," Perrin said. "Sometimes it's parents. It could be AAU coaches. But, yeah, sometimes they're getting some strange advice in terms of where they may go in the draft."
For that reason, O'Connor does not fault the potential picks — even if others do.
"You hire an agent, and the reason you hire an agent is because it's your first time through this process," he said. "So, you're told what to do. You're told, 'Don't work out. We're not going to do this. Here's the way we're going to set this up.'
"Then, their agent doesn't get blamed for it. They get blamed for it — and that's not fair."
Should agents be less scared of the dentist? "I think so," O'Connor said. "But . . . that's not my call."
Green also told Portland he would not compete against other prospects, so the Trail Blazers did not bring him in as previously hoped.
Instead, Blazers general manager John Nash called Green's demand for a solo workout a "sign of weakness and a lack of confidence."
"I'm frustrated because it seems like a number of players at the top are unwilling to showcase themselves, saying they don't want to work out 1-on-1 or 2-on-2," Nash, whose Blazers currently pick third, told The Oregonian. "That makes it hard for me, because if they don't want to compete for the third pick in the draft, then it's hard for me to envision them competing 82 times a season."
Green does not stand alone, though.
According to the Chicago Tribune, "When asked why Arizona's Channing Frye declined to work out with Charlotte, (Bobcats) coach/general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said, 'To me, maybe it's a fear of competing.' "
On one hand, it can be maddening. On the other, it's not as if one audition makes or breaks a pick.
"Workouts are just a small part of what we do in terms of evaluating," Perrin said. "If these guys are going to (college) for four years, we can have almost a hundred tapes on them.
"It's frustrates us more," he added, "if they're a high school kid, maybe a freshman in college — (and) we haven't had a chance to really evaluate them, either live or via tape."
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com